Postings of news stories and analysis of interest to working people by 9AM Central, Monday-Friday

Sunday, October 7, 2012

October 7 Week In Review

Week In Review

October 7 2012

by Bill Onasch

‘Something’s Happening Here’–Deux

Following up on last week’s coverage of noteworthy tactical shifts in the U/S. Class war:

* AP reported on Friday,

“The union representing Detroit Water and Sewerage workers says a five-day strike has ended and that
36 employees fired for walking out will get their jobs back. American Federation of State County and
Municipal Employees Local 207 said in a statement Thursday that its executive board voted to end the
strike after negotiations with management. The union struck Sunday to protest Detroit's plan to
downsize the department and eliminate most of the jobs in the department over several years. Local
President John Riehl is claiming victory and says the union ‘will return to the bargaining table
immediately.’ Hearings are scheduled for the fired employees who work at a wastewater treatment plant
in southwest Detroit. The Associated Press left email messages Thursday seeking comment from Mayor
Dave Bing's office.”

The “illegal wildcat” strike was particularly remarkable in Michigan where a tea-party Governor has
carried out coups against elected municipal and school district governments, replacing them with
gauleiters to slash public services. Democrat Bing has tried to ingratiate himself with the state house as
he used this threat to extract concessions from unions and warn public resistance is futile. “Detroit is
back” may yet prove to be more than a Fiat marketing slogan.

* Walmart is the world’s biggest private employer with a well-earned reputation of zero tolerance for
collective bargaining. But the placid waters leaving “associates”and contract labor gasping for air were
recently rippled in a couple of tributaries. The campus paper at the University of Southern California
reported,

“Employees from Walmarts across Southern California returned to work Friday after mounting a
one-day strike and holding a rally in front of a store in Pico Rivera, Calif., alleging unfair labor practices
by the nation’s largest retailer. Seventy-one associates from nine Southern California stores officially
went on strike on Thursday, said organizers. It was the first multi-store strike in Wal-Mart’s 50 year
history, said multiple store associates.”

UE News reprinted a press release from Warehouse Workers for Justice about another strike at a
Walmart distribution center 2000 miles away,

“In an historic victory, all striking Roadlink workers at Walmart's Elwood warehouse near Joliet have
won their principal demand, for an end to illegal retaliation against workers protesting poor conditions.
They will return to work with full pay for the period they were on strike. Workers returning to work
plan to continue their fight for safe working conditions, fair pay for all hours worked and an end to
discrimination.”

UE also carried a story about an impressive solidarity rally that was key to the Elwood victory that said,
in part,

“On Monday, October 1 their strike became an even bigger piece of the struggle for workers' rights and
economic justice when some 650 people rallied in support of the strike. Those gathered outside the giant
Walmart warehouse included unions, community organizations and faith-based groups from Chicago
and from the Joliet area, where the plant is located. The protest resulted in the giant Walmart warehouse
being entirely shut down for the day.

“The police showed up, heavily armed and seemingly ready for war. Clad in black riot gear that was
meant to intimidate, 25 police from a unit called the Mobile Field Force Team assembled inside
Walmart's parking lot and then marched out in formation to confront the peaceful rally. When the police
ordered the crowd to disperse, 17 union and community leaders, in a civil disobedience action planned
in advance, refused to leave, sat down in the street, and were arrested. Among those arrested were a Will
County board member, several members of the clergy, UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley and
UE Western Region President Carl Rosen. The arrestees were not in police custody for long, and each
received a citation of obstructing a roadway.

“The Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee is organizing workers in the logistics industry in the
Joliet area of Will County, one of the largest concentrations of warehouses in the country.”

And we’re keeping an eye on the concerns expressed in a headline in The Oregonian–Northwest grain
terminal managers prepare for epic showdown with longshoremen, a reference to a now expired contract
with the ILWU.

Occupy Sesame Street?

Mitt Romney showed his soft side by proclaiming his affection for Big Bird. But his love is a truly tough
one. He won’t borrow money from China to keep PBS alive.

In the same “debate,” hosted by the PBS news anchor, the President revealed--his dull side.

Whether
this was a candid look at the incumbent leader of the Free World or a
slick tactical maneuver
is a subject of yet another debate among the chattering classes. The
President certainly showed some
spunk in crowing about the BLS September employment report that showed
the official unemployment
rate to be the lowest since he took office–a couple of ticks below the
eight percent red line that Romney
chose to center his fire upon. “We’ve come too far to turn around now,”
Obama proclaimed to a rain-soaked Ohio rally of union-mobilized
supporters.

Does the working class have good reason to share in the joy being celebrated in the White House? Are
we finally seeing a real recovery?

Before the report, in anticipation of enormous budget cuts that are likely after the first of the year
because of the bipartisan deficit reduction deal brokered to get a one-time increase in debt authorization,
several military contractors were planning to issue mass layoff intentions mandated under the WARN
Act. The President appealed to them to hold off their announcements and Lockeed-Martin formally
agreed. The White House hopes to ignore the presence of that elephant-donkey hybrid in the room until
after the election.

While the September figures are the best for this administration they are hardly cork-poppers. Some
important measures, such as horrendous unemployment rates for Blacks, Latinos, and teenagers, as well
as the labor force participation rate, remained virtually unchanged. And, even with some slight
improvement, there are still at least 22.6 million looking in vain for full-time work.

Whether voters stay the President’s course or turn back to more old-fashioned supply-side economics
that take too long for Ryan to explain to us–even with exploding pie-charts–the prospects for recovery
for our side remain bleak. That’s not going to change until the working class majority has a party of our
own.

‘The greatest environmentalist of the 20th century’

That’s the apt title given by Climate & Capitalism to a collection of links to appreciations of the life
of Barry Commoner who recently passed away at age 95. Commoner was a brilliant scientist, an
effective teacher, and a fearless activist. He popularized science not supported by corporate grants
making an effort to reach out to workers and the rebellious youth of my generation and beyond. Among
his close collaborators in the labor movement was the late Tony Mazzocchi, long time leader in the Oil,
Chemical & Atomic Workers and principal founder of the Labor Party.

Commoner’s appreciation of unintended consequences of altering environment began as he served in
the US Navy as a biologist during World War II. During the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific the
Marines were losing more men to insect-born disease than enemy fire. A plan was devised to send in
bombers to spray insecticides to clear targeted beaches before landing. The poison worked effectively
in killing the indigenous deadly bugs. However, it also killed thousands of fish which washed ashore
and, in turn, attracted fresh swarms of insects from nearby islands--making a bad mess much worse than
ever.

I
first heard about Barry Commoner in the early Sixties through his work
in establishing that cancer-causing strontium 90 present in the fallout
from nuclear weapons tests was contaminating pastures,
entering cow’s milk, and being absorbed in alarming levels in the teeth
and bones of infants and
toddlers. Proof came from testing of many thousands of baby teeth at St
Louis and Washington
Universities. Among those contributing teeth for testing was Tony
Mazzocchi who urged union
members to send in their kid’s teeth. This study played a big part in
the first US-Soviet agreements to
ban atmospheric nuclear tests.

Commoner wanted to go much farther, championing total nuclear disarmament and was a staunch
opponent of the Vietnam war. He was a central figure in the launching of the modern environmental
movement in the late Sixties and an early and avid advocate of focusing on renewable energy.

Though he will be greatly missed he leaves behind a legacy of literature and activism that still serves
us well.

About the Blogger

Retiree member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1287. Active member National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981. Webmaster of kclabor.org since March, 2000. Former Vice-President of ATU 1287. In Minneapolis during Seventies-Eighties held several posts in UE Local 1139 including Local President and Shop Chairman at Litton Microwave. Charter member of Labor Party Advocates. Founding member of US Labor Against the War.